Cooking Safety

Topics

Cooking is fun, but kitchen safety is a priority. Think about it: Knives! Fire! Bacteria! Observing basic rules of kitchen safety is a good habit to develop. Always pay attention to what you’re doing in[more…]

When a fire starts in the kitchen, you need to act fast to keep the fire from getting out of control. But how you act depends on what kind of fire you have and where it is. Follow these instructions for[more…]

Whether you can food yourself or buy it canned, canned food has the potential to spoil. To avoid making yourself sick with canned foods that have spoiled, watch out for these signs of a spoiled product[more…]

Knives can cut you, whether they’re super sharp or very dull. Very sharp knives can easily cut skin, and dull knives can slip, putting you at risk for losing control and getting cut. You can prevent kitchen[more…]

To can low-acid foods, you use a pressure canner. Pressure canning is the only safe way to can low-acid foods. Each step of the pressure-canning process is important to produce safe, home-canned foods:[more…]

To store fresh seafood that you've bought for sushi, you must follow some storage guidelines. All fresh seafood needs to be stored chilled — either in a refrigerator, freezer, or container of ice — to[more…]

You can do a lot to prevent kitchen fires. Although you can’t remove every possible source of a kitchen fire, you can minimize fire risks by removing hazards and maintaining your kitchen. Follow these[more…]

Water-bath canning, sometimes referred to as the boiling-water method of canning, is the simplest and easiest method for preserving high-acid food. Water-bath canning destroys any active bacteria and microorganisms[more…]

Countertops are the most overlooked item in many kitchens. The counter is where you set out and prepare food (often on a cutting board), stack plates, put appliances, and lose car keys amid the clutter[more…]

Thoroughly washing hands is one of the most effective ways to prevent contamination. Although most people know that they should wash their hands well before handling food, many people don’t follow that[more…]

Preventing food spoilage is the key to safe canning. Over the years, home canning has become safer and better. Scientists have standardized processing methods, and home canners know more about using these[more…]

Not remodeling? You can still make your existing cooking area more efficient by assessing the space and your movement. A well-designed cooking area is efficient and makes cooking easier and more pleasurable[more…]

Proper lighting in the cooking areas can help you work quickly and accurately; insufficient lighting can make cooking troublesome and conducive to accidents. You want your kitchen well lit — the stove[more…]

Clean up while you cook. Cleaning while you cook may seem like an obvious tip, but not everyone does it. Some people can make a tuna salad sandwich and instead of cleaning while they work, they leave the[more…]

Most food safety is common sense: for example, if you drop a jar on the floor and it shatters, don’t scrape up the preserve and tuck in! But some dangers are less obvious, so err on the side of caution[more…]

Although it may be tempting to put off certain repairs to your food truck or overlook a few minor health violations in hopes that the health inspector won’t pay you a visit in the near future, a better[more…]

Taste-test all your menu items before making a final decision to serve them from your food truck. Modify or discard any food that doesn’t meet your quality standards. This testing is an important technique[more…]

When food is cooked and left out for more than two hours at room temperature (or worse yet, food truck temperature), bacteria, parasites, and viruses can multiply quickly. Most of these contaminants grow[more…]

Cross-contamination can cause harmful contaminants can spread to your food and throughout your food truck. Cross-contamination is the transfer of harmful bacteria, parasites, or viruses to food from other[more…]

Hand-washing is an important task for all food service employees to ensure you’re serving safe food. Harmful bacteria or pathogens are found on almost everything you touch. People can carry them in or[more…]

You’re responsible for making sure your food truck employees are doing their job, which includes cleaning the truck during and at the end of a shift. Your main goal should be to ensure that the truck is[more…]

The goal of health inspectors isn’t to shut down your food truck or commercial kitchen. Their role is to enforce local food codes as well as to educate food service staff on proper food handling practices[more…]

Even though the space your food truck and commercial kitchen takes up is minimal compared to many restaurants, the same types of injuries take place. Knowing how to avoid these injuries can help you prevent[more…]